Concerned mommy: DC with a tic...anyone else have experience?

[s_gosney]

Hi everyone. My dd was diagnosed with a simple tic (pronounced eye blinking) several months ago. We were told that it is a common childhood issue (although the doctor had to consult her medical books b/c she'd never seen one in such a young child) and that there was nothing to do about it and that she would outgrow it. We were also told that often the first tic goes away then a child develops a different tic, and that they somehow act as a type of stress relief for the child.
Well, dd's blinking tic seemed to subside for quite awhile, and I had pretty much forgotten about it, but now it's back and it seems to have gotten worse. It seems to come late in the evening when she's getting tired, and it comes not only with more frequency but is also sometimes accompanied by her drawing down her chin towards her chest.
So, what to do? I can take her back to the ped, but I need to be well-informed before I go in because unfortunately in our city at least, you have to push for further exploration. The doctor told me before not to google it because I'd come across all sorts of stuff about Tourette's and such, but now that I have tried to find some info, I'm having a hard time finding anything solid and most of the info is on older children.
Does anyone have any insight on what we should do? Do we need to see a neurologist or some other type of specialist? It doesn't seem like there's much that will be done treatment wise, so do we just wait it out to avoid having our child unnecessarily labeled? I'm just confused...any advice is welcome. Thanks!

[nfowife]

Personally, I would request a referral to a children's neurologist. Even if the ped thinks it's nothing, I would do it for your peace of mind. I think you are in Tulsa? Anyhow, I know it's a drive, and I don't know if there is a children's hospital in Tulsa, but we have been extremely happy with the 3 different specialists we see (orthopedics, gastroenterology, and dermatology) at the OU children's hospital. I just personally wouldn't take the word of a general practice dr. who had to look it up in a textbook, but that's me.

[s_gosney]

We're in Stillwater. I've also heard good things about children's hospital (in fact, I was born there!). We're leaving soon on vacation, but I will definitely consider trying to get a referral to a specialist down there.

[AmyZ]

Just wanted to throw one other thing out there... my BIL has a slight tic that is actually brought on by food allergies. The more "bad stuff" he eats (for him mostly foods that contain artificial sweeteners) the worse the tic gets. You might want the doctor to rule that out when you see a specialist.

Hugs to you -- hope things go well!

Amy Z

"Ma!" to Eliana 2/04 - She's 2!
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[s_gosney]

Amy, thanks for sharing that. DD does have a lot of typical things typically associated with food allergies (eczema, seasonal allergies, and asthma) and there have been other things that have caused me to consider the possibility of food allergies, but she's never been tested. I'll definitely mention this when we get around to seeing whoever I can get referred to. Thanks again!

[ciaobella]

I totally understand where you are coming from! My DS had some strange eye blinking (a very hard blink, a couple of quick blinks and then his eyes would roll up and to the side, and that's it - the whole thing lasted just a couple of seconds) and we thought he might be having seizures. At first the episodes occurred a couple of times a day, and then it decreased to once a week or so. So we went to see a pediatric neurologist.

Based on my DS's age and development, the neurologist was pretty confident that he was not having seizures, and while he was not diagnosed with a tick, the neurologist did say that it was very possible that it was indeed a tick. She did order an MRI and an EEG to rule out seizures, just to be safe. She also did a full neurological evaluation at both visits.

I was not really worried towards the end because by the time we had the follow up visit it had been a two months since we had seen the blinking (although there was lots of worrying at the front end!). The neurologist told us that if it was a tick, he could very likely outgrow it, or it could intensify or change as he got older. She had us keep a diary, so that is something you might want to think about.

Anyhow, I would encourage you to see a neurologist. I do not think that you DD will be labeled or medicated - the only concern would be if your DD's development was regressing or if she was behind schedule and they thought it had to do with the tick or something related to it. Good luck! I know it can be scary not knowing what is going on!

[ctc221]

My dd also has a blinking tic. We first noticed it when she was around 18 months old. It started off as one or two very exaggerated blinks (which at first we thought was cute, that maybe she was trying to wink or flirt with us), then progressed to a rapid-fire series of blinks. The more I freaked out about it, the worse it got. Sometimes it seemed like her head and upper body were twitching along with it. I took her to our Ped who, like yours, reassured us that it was very common and often goes away. The best advice he gave us was to ignore it. Especially since my freaking out seemed to make it worse. We didn't mention it when she did it; DH and I couldn't even glance at each other becuase kids are so sensitive, they can pick up on your every action or slight nuance.

Three years later, I can't say it's gone away 100%, but it rarely occurs. When it does, it's when she's tired and cranky, or if she's having a temper tantrum and starts crying. Sometimes it seems like she's almost blinking to force her tears out. We hope it'll go away completely as the associated behaviors (tantrums, etc.) also diminish.

BTW, we didn't seek any evaluations with neuro or any other specialists. If the situation had gotten worse or if her development seemed to be affected, we definitely would have.

HTH!

AC

DD 02/02
DS 11/04

[s_gosney]

Thanks for sharing your story. Keeping a diary is probably a good idea, since they'll likely want to know when it happens, etc. I'll do that.
I'll ask our ped about seeing a neurologist. Thanks again!

[s_gosney]

Thanks so much for sharing your story. It's good to hear that your dd's has all but gone away. We were also told that it would worse if we called attention to it. It's definitely not affecting her development at this time, but I worry it could be problematic later. Hopefully hers turns out to be as benign as your dd's.